Uncontainable
by quintupledots915
Summary: War left the shinobi countries in ruin. Nobody was left unaffected, whether it be shinobi or not. One simple request for assistance helped a shinobi get back on his feet.
1. Chapter 1

Blood. Terror. Screams. The ground rumbled beneath my feet as if an earthquake was occurring. I knew another shinobi was using a jutsu. A powerful one, by the sounds of it. I dodged another flying kunai. I jumped over my enemy and stabbed their neck, blood spraying onto me.

That was when I saw her. She dodged a kunai and punched the ground with her strength, hoping to send the enemy off balance. Then...

Sweat pored down my face as I heaved in breath after breath. Another nightmare. This time, about her. Every night, for the past seven months, I woke up, feeling even less emotion stir inside of me. The only emotion was hate.

Silently, I got out of bed and went to get a drink. Pouring myself a glass of water, I looked outside. The village was still recovering. About a third of the village was up and running, as if nothing had ever happened. The Hokage mountain was no longer in existence, the cliff being pushed back about a hundred yards.

The devastation still shone in everyone's eyes, no matter how long it went by. Nobody had conceived any children in those seven months. They just couldn't bring another child into this world. War was spreading through all the nations. It had already hit here.

I looked away swiftly. My mind couldn't get any more lost than it already was. I swallowed the rest of the water and went back to bed. My apartment was bigger now, which didn't matter to me. I didn't share it and would never share it with anyone. Everyone was gone.

I laid down and tried to let sleep overtake me again. My mind, however, decided it would rather not let me have the nightmares again. Instead, I was tossing and turning for about an hour. Finally, I gave up and got up. I looked at my watch. It was 3:47. I changed into more suitable clothing and left my apartment.

I never locked it anymore. I was hoping someone would come in and destroy it. Someone would write something on the wall that would bring me over the edge. Someone would set a trap that would kill me. Anything to go without having Tsunade curse me for leaving.

I swiftly moved through the streets and made my way to a training ground. When I entered, memories flew into my head. Quickly, I left and went to the next one. This one held no important memories. Nothing that was too painful.

I found a suitable tree and started my kicks. At 5,000 on each leg, I proceeded to 10,000 punches with each arm. Around two hours went by by the time I was done. I saw the beginnings of sun on the horizon. I felt my stomach grumble fiercely, but I ignored it. Maybe, just maybe, I got starve myself to death. Everything would end.

"It would be too slow. You'd hate it." I whipped my head around and saw Tsunade. She gave me a sad look. I gave her an emotionless look. It was much easier than grinning all the time. I tried that at first, pretending nothing was wrong. It made me sick.

"And how do you know what I was thinking?" I said, deciding another thousand punches with each arm was necessary. "I know the way you think. And I heard your stomach. How long has it been?"

"None of your business." Another punch. "I'd say about three days, right? I'd get some food into your stomach soon. It won't be long before you exhaust yourself to a point that you can't even move. You're burning off even more calories training."

"And you think I don't realize this?" One punch aimed at the kidneys. "I know you realize this. Doesn't mean you understand how much pain you'll be in."

Another aimed at the stomach. "I can manage. It'll be painful, but I'll eventually get to the point of no return. Then, you won't have to deal with me anymore."

"You know I would never think you were a burden of any sort. You've been through a lot. We all have." One last punch, aimed at Tsunade's face.

Tsunade easily dodged. I was too exhausted to move quickly enough. She easily kicked me in the stomach, making me double over in pain. This pain was much more intense than normal. My stomach was completely empty, so I dry heaved onto the ground. My throat burned at nothing being pushed up.

Arms wrapped themselves around me. I already knew who it was. It was the one reason I stayed in the world of the living. "Please. We've gone through this before. You need to succeed me. I know it hurts, but you have to. Promise me you'll succeed me. Promise me you'll protect this village more than you've protected anything in the world. Promise me you'll protect this village until you die of natural causes. Not causes you induced on yourself, but causes like old age, or saving the village. Please, Naruto, promise me you will."

As always, my heart ached even more after she said something like that. "I promise."

* * *

><p>We walked to the new Hokage tower, which was much smaller than the last, but was still just as grand. As the sun got higher and higher in the sky, people started their busy days at work. Many of these people would be going to work on building more houses and buildings.<p>

I followed Tsunade in. We went behind the main desk and walked right into the Hokage's office. There was chatter above them. They wanted to make the Hokage building bigger, but Tsunade told them they needed to finish the rest of the village first. The Hokage didn't need an extravagant building before many displaced families had homes.

I sat in front of her desk, which had piles of paperwork covering it. I felt something flutter in my chest, the feeling that at least one thing was still the same. It was soon gone.

Tsunade turned around and gave me a bowl a quarter of the way filled with Ichiraku ramen. No matter how much I wished to leave the world, I just couldn't bear to not eat such a delectable food. I nearly inhaled the food at an ungodly rate. That bowl was replaced with an even smaller amount, but I was warned to eat slower.

I hardly managed to do that. The majority of the bowl was gone in a few minutes. "Naruto, if you don't eat slower, I will knock you out, bring you to the hospital, hook you up to a G-tube, and feed you that way. You need to get the nutrients."

I forced myself to slow down. That was when I noticed my stomach clench painfully. Only after three days, I still wasn't able to eat a lot. I jumped up and ran to where I knew the bathroom was. I almost made it to the stall. Almost. The contents of my barely filled stomach spilled onto the floor.

I looked at it and heaved again. The smell was overwhelming. Not to mention the little noodle pieces in it. I looked away, but looked again when more came out. I was surprised so much had come out even though I hardly ate anything.

I sat up and put my head in between my legs, praying nothing else would come out. Around ten minutes later, the nausea was completely gone. I wanted to clean it up, but I knew the sight and smell would make me vomit again. I left it to someone else.

Tsunade was waiting in her office with some crackers. I nibbled them as she started talking.

"I received something this morning. It was a letter. They are asking for a shinobi to guard something in their school for the year. They only need to protect the object and make sure none of the students find out what it is. The guard is also expected to make sure no outsiders find the object." I stared at her. She sighed.

"I've accepted this mission due to the large sum of money. We need it in these hard times if we want to stay on top. Your abilities fit perfectly in this task. I said you would take it. It'll be about a year long, so you'll be able to be away from the village for a while. It'll be good for you. Just letting you know right now, you have no say in the matter." I shrugged and nibbled away at the cracker. Nearly a quarter of it was gone.

"We need to get you better before we send you. You'll be leaving August 20. We're not sure yet how you will get there, but we will find out more details as the time comes near. Today, it is July 15. We've got plenty of time to get you in a better shape. You'll definitely need to get your appetite back. And you'll need to get on medication to help with the...thoughts you've been having." I laughed, which earned me a strange look.

"You haven't prescribed them until now. What makes you think I'd want to take them if I've been doing fine all this time?" Tsunade shook her head. "You really don't get it. You'll be around students. If you suddenly decide you'll kill yourself and talk about those thoughts with other students around, the end result will not be good. You need to take them."

I rolled my eyes and continued nibbling on the cracker. Nearly three fourths of the way gone. Tsunade handed me a folder. "You'll need to read this. It contains some details vital to your mission."

"The mission I never accepted." She didn't falter for a moment. "As I said, you have no choice. This will be good for you to do."

"Can I go now?" Tsunade shook her head. "You need to finish those crackers and then drink the juice. Slowly."

I rolled my eyes, but did as I was told. The lightheaded feeling was subsiding, which actually made me feel much better. I could think much more clearly now.

About thirty minutes went by before I finally finished everything. I felt a lot better, though I still felt hungry. Tsunade told me to come in at noon for lunch, which would most likely be crackers again.

I trudged my way back to my apartment. Lots of people stopped me to say hi. I just waved and kept on walking. I still didn't know why everyone thought I was such a hero. I couldn't save them, so I couldn't be a hero. There was just no possible way.

When I finally made it back, I sprawled out onto my bed. Without thinking about it, I opened the folder Tsunade gave me. For the next six hours, I poured over the information in the folder.

"Hm, so this Harry Potter character is going to be starting his first year this year. Albus is the headmaster. Severus is the Potions teacher. Quirrell is the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Minerva is the Transfiguration teacher. Filius is the Charms teacher. Cuthbert is the History of Magic teacher (he is also a ghost). Pomona is the Herbology teacher."

"Minerva is the Gryiffindor head of house. Pomona is the Hufflepuff head of house. Filius is the Ravenclaw head of house. Severus is the Slytherin head of house." I scratched the back of my head. "This is way too much stuff to remember!"

I surprised myself. I hadn't thought anything like that in over seven months. I shook my head and proceeded to remember all the names. My stomach grumbled rather loudly which made me look at my watch. It was 11:53. 'Time to go get 'lunch'. If you could ever call that lunch.' I thought.

Putting the folder in a safe place, I left my apartment. I still left it unlocked.

Once I got to the Hokage's office, I went right in. Tsunade was actually doing some paperwork, much to my surprise. "I'm here."

She looked up and smiled. "Well, you still look underfed, but you look less pale now. Your foods on the chair."

"Thanks." I walked forward and was not surprised to see a plate of crackers and a glass of juice. Sighing, I picked the plate and glass up, sat on the chair, and dug in.

Silence ensued for around twenty minutes. "I'm finally done! It feels so nice to have all this paperwork out of the way."

I snorted. She eyed me strangely. "And what exactly is so funny?"

"It's going to be back. You can't go very long actually doing work. You're just not cut out for that." She smirked. "You may be right. That doesn't mean I won't be able to do my paperwork for a whole week."

"Make it three. And if you can't, I won't go on the mission." She shook her head. "Sorry, that's non-negotiable. You have to do that mission no matter what."

"Fine." I continued with my lunch, feeling my stomach slowly fill itself up. I grumbled when she put another cracker on my plate. I grabbed it and almost bit into it. "What did you put in it?"

Tsunade looked completely aghast that I would say something like that. "What makes you think I put something in the cracker?"

"Why would you give it to me after you already gave me a plate of crackers? What made that one so special? If you really wanted me to eat it, you should have put it in the pile." Tsunade smiled. "Well, if that's really what you think, then you're wrong."

Suddenly, I felt very light-headed. "Wha-what did you put in these crackers?"

My body felt very heavy and I fell out of my chair. Tsunade came over to my side. "You see, I drugged the other crackers. I wanted you to realize you were being drugged so you wouldn't hurt yourself falling. You're going to go to sleep now. Make sure-"

The rest of her sentence was lost to my mind as I fell into a very deep slumber, one with a lacking of nightmares.

* * *

><p>The sound of birds chirping brought me back to my senses. I slowly opened my eyes, not liking the bright light of the room. I soon sheilded my eyes with one of my arms. "Ugh."<p>

"Ah, I see you're awake," Tsunade said as she sat down in the chair next to the bed. I glared at her. "Naruto, You have to get your strength up and this is the only way it will happen. We both know you won't do it for any other reason unless you are forced to."

I sighed and sat up. "Doesn't mean I won't put up a fight."

I attempted to jump off of the bed and run out the door, but instead, my upper body fell to the floor. They had tied my feet to the bed. Grumbling, I pushed myself back onto the bed. I refused to talk to Tsunade any more.

"Oh, I should have warned you about that. Whoops, my bad," she said, smiling. I rolled my eyes, saying. "Yes, because you totally forgot."

Tsunade's smile slowly disappeared. "Naruto, I know you don't want to talk about this, but you need to. Right now, we are going to have a...therapy session."

I turned to my other side and shut my eyes. I was not going to talk about anything. Seven months still wasn't enough. Not even a lifetime would be enough to talk freely about this.

"Naruto, they were helping you because they wanted to! It wasn't your fault!" she pleaded. I turned back around faster than Tsunade could imagine. **"It was my fault! They never should have been there!"**

Tsunade backed away from my face. I could feel the Kyuubi's power flowing through me, but at this point, I didn't care. "N-Naruto, please, don't do this."

I felt my mouth come up in a smirk. **"Too late."**

My feet came free almost instantly and I ran to the door. Ripping the door off its hinges, I started to run out. Five or six arms stopped me, one putting their hand on my forehead. Kyuubi's power drained from my body. I crumpled to the floor, having absolutely no energy left.

The three people that stopped me were all Anbu. They put me back on the bed and this time, had my arms and legs tied up. They wanted to tie me down further, but Tsunade stopped them. "This is fine."

They nodded and left. I glared at Tsunade again. "Why are they out there?" She shut her eyes. Sighing, she said, "Precisely for the reason you just showed them. They are there to stop you from leaving and stop the Kyuubi from coming out."

I looked away from Tsunade. I didn't want to admit it, but somewhere deep within my heart, I was happy she wanted me to get better. I was almost excited at the prospect of going on this mission. At the same time, I had no desire to feel any happiness at all.


	2. Chapter 2

A whole month had passed since Tsunade told me to go on this mission. I had gained a few pounds, but had yet to reach the point where Tsunade wanted me. She had advised me to eat as much as possible when I made it to Hogwarts, as the school was called.

I had received a few more letters from Dumbledore-sama, the man who ran Hogwarts, explaining in more detail the extent of my duties. I needed to guard something on the third floor. I was informed that I was not the only thing in place to guard the thing they wanted to keep safe. There is a three-headed dog, according to Dumbledore-sama.

After reading through that particular letter, a pang of sadness invaded my senses. Kakashi-sensai loved dogs. He would've gotten a kick out of a three-headed dog.

The five remaining days to August 20 went by rather quickly. The day before the 20th, Tsunade received one last letter. It contained instructions about what to do the next day, but Tsunade told me she would tell me before I left. Also, the letter came with a small bag. Upon opening this bag, I pulled out three outfits, one a student outfit, one everyday clothes, and one a regular black cloak.

The letter explained that I was to wear the cloak over my normal attire whenever protecting the item. The student outfit and everyday clothes were to be used in emergencies, like the stone was stolen and I needed to find the culprit. They were more likely to be a student or teacher than anyone else.

Before I left her office, Tsunade told me to come to her office at five. She refused to tell me why, which angered me slightly, but I still went. Upon walking into her office, I was greeted by a hot, steaming bowl of Ichiraku Ramen, courtesy of Teuchi and Ayame, who were also in her office. A small smile graced my face.

"It's a going away present. You'll be gone for a while, so we made this just for you," Ayame said with a smile. Her father also smiled at me and said, "It might be the last time you have real ramen for a while, so we made this one special."

I sat down in front of the ramen and nearly inhaled it. Laughing, Teuchi gave me two more bowls that he brought with him. He knew I would do that.

We talked for a while afterwards. I had noticed they were dancing around most of the subjects that involved the war in anyway. The closest we got was Ayame showing me her engagement ring. She had met the guy, Hideaki, just before the war started. As she said that, she trailed off slightly, looked at her father and Tsunade, then smiled again and talked about how they had bought a new house right neat Hokage Mountain.

Eventually, they had to leave, which saddened me. It was going to be the last time I would be able to see them for a long time. Tsunade then sat me down. She sat down, looked at me, and said, "I'm going to miss you a lot."

I could tell she was on the verge of tears. She had already lost so many close friends, family, and people she considered family. I was all there was left and now I was going to be gone for almost a year. I could feel her sadness in my own veins.

"...If Shizune was here, she'd be telling you to stay safe and stay out of trouble." My body stiffened. We hadn't talked about Shizune since the war happened. I looked anywhere but Tsunade, who eventually reached out and put her hand on mine.

"Naruto, please, don't dwell on their deaths. Don't blame yourself for anything. It's the last thing they would want. Go to this Hogwarts place, protect what they need you to, and come back as your old self." My heart sped up. I knew they wouldn't want me to, but I couldn't help it. It was almost instinctual.

"...I will..." I said, almost praying that she wouldn't realize my lie. It wasn't my fault that I blamed myself. It was my fault, and everyone knew that. The civilians that knew did the same thing they used to do to me: ignore me completely. Glare at me, turn their children away, and say I needed to die. Thankfully, that was only a select few people. Unfortunately, it still hurt just as much.

Tsunade stood up and walked around her desk. She knelt down and gave me a hug, whispering, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

I hugged back, resisting the urge to tell her what was really on my mind.

* * *

><p>My body jerked awake, panting echoing in the room. I was surprised to see myself awake, since the drugs Tsunade had given me had been working very good at keeping me asleep. I laid back down and closed my eyes willing the drugs to take affect again. A scream made me jump out of bed and look out the window.<p>

Right below me, there were two men, dressed in black ninja attire, who were putting a bag over a woman's head. I looked at my clock to see it was two in the morning.

I looked back out the window for a moment before opening it and jumping out.

As I landed, the two men jumped. They hadn't expected me, apparently.

"Hello. And you two are?" I asked questioningly. It was all for the affect of course. They looked at each other, then at their captive. They then looked back at me and the taller one said, "We are cleaning the streets of criminals."

"Oh, really? And what crime did this woman commit, exactly?"

The taller one spoke again and said, "She killed her parents."

"Funnily enough, I don't seem to be able to believe you, " I said before running towards them. I grabbed the sword out of the shorter ones sheath and sliced his arm off. I then quickly sliced his head off.

The other man backed off slightly. His hands were shaking as he fumbled with his sword, finally pulling it free. I smiled before stabbing him the the chest, puncturing his stomach. Wailing in pain, he fell to the ground and passed out. One more stab to the heart and no more breath came from him.

I turned towards the woman, who still had a bag on her head, and went over towards her. She whimpered, so I set the sword down and took the bag off of her head.

The first thing I noticed was the long gash diagonally down her face. Without hesitation, I picked her up and carried her to the hospital. Upon arrival, I gave her to the doctors who rushed her to a room. In the light, I could see the extent of the gash on her face. There was bone showing on quite a bit of it, even with the blood oozing out.

"Uzumaki-san?" I turned to face a doctor, who was pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "The woman you brought in is stable. She is resting comfortably. You saved her life, by the sounds of it."

The doctor smiled as he walked away. I smiled back, only for a moment, before leaving for home. Already, I was losing valuable sleep time.

* * *

><p>"I heard that you saved a women last night," Tsunade said as I entered her office. I nodded, glancing around the room. It would be the last time for a long time.<p>

"In the letter I received, I was told that you will need to leave the village. Out of the gate, you should find someone he sent to get you. I'm still not sure if I trust that."

I chuckled, saying, "Tsunade-sama, since when do you ever trust anyone?"

Knowing the truth in my words, she laughed with me. After a minute, she stood up, walked around my desk, and gave me a hug. I hugged back, putting as much meaning as I could behind it.

"I'll miss you. The village will miss you. Everyone will miss you. You just better come back in one piece," Tsunade said, as she pulled away from the hug. "If I can find a way to mail you letters, you'll be getting them often. You better send return letters! I'm holding you to that!"

I smiled, saying, "I'll try to remember. Not sure if I will or not."

Tsunade laughed, before saying, "You better get going. They're probably waiting."

Nodding, I turned around and left her office. As I walked out of the Hokage building, I was greeted by the villagers. They had lined up in the ten minutes I was upstairs. They were are saying goodbye. I felt dormant emotions stir, love pouring into me. I hadn't thought they would forgive me, but they did. A genuine smile was pulled onto my face.

Before I realized it, my name was being called out and people were trying to get me to hug them. I slowly made my way to the entrance, my heart welling with pride for my village. They were incredibly loyal, even though I didn't deserve it. My actions were beyond unforgivable, yet they forgave me.

One particular child stood out to me. He was in front of who appeared to be his mother. He looked at me with longing eyes before a large smile gracefully fell onto his face. I went over to him and shook his hand, then ruffled his hair. He started giggling, which made my smile grow too.

Maybe there really was something to look forward to coming back to, even without them.

Without me realizing it, I was at the entrance. I wanted desperately to look back, but I withheld myself. I knew it would be easier just to continue on my way. I felt the emotions that had surfaced slowly dissipate, until I was back to the way I had been for too long.

After walking for a while, I found a small sign. It had the Hogwarts seal on it along with an arrow to the left, going into the forest. Hiding my confusion, I turned to the left and started into the forest.

I continued deeper and deeper, still not seeing anything. I was gradually growing darker and darker until I saw a small light. Creeping towards the light, I saw that the light was coming off a stick. My confusion grew some more.

All of the sudden, that stick was pointed towards me and a red light came shooting out of it. Darkness overtook my vision and I felt myself fall to the ground.

Vaguely, I remember seeing what looked like a hut, but my vision went dark again. The next thing I remembered was opening my eyes to find a rather high ceiling above me. My body ached, especially around my chest where that red light had hit me. I sat up, wincing at that burst of pain.

A clicking of shoes and I was pushed back onto the bed. The person who pushed me back down had a slight frown on her face. I heard her muttering, "Knocking out children, what has it come to? This is just ridiculous!"

"Now, you need to drink this and take it easy for a few days, alright? I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but I can not answer them. Professor Dumbledore will come to see you soon," the lady said, thrusting a cup into my hands. I sniffed it, not smelling any poison. I slowly took a sip. I nearly gagged on it, it was so bitter.

"Drink _all_ of it, do you understand?" I nodded, grimacing at the thought of drinking more of it. The woman hurried away to what appeared to be an office of sorts. I looked around the room I was in. The ceiling wasn't the only thing that was high up. The windows went almost from the floor to the ceiling.

The room was filled with beds and privacy curtains. My initial thought was that this was some sort of healing building for people in the war, but then I remembered what I was sent to do. I was in Hogwarts, in the Hospital Wing. I was suddenly grateful of staying up to read the file on Hogwarts.

I looked at the door moments before it opened. I could feel the chakra signatures coming, though it was fuzzy. I couldn't tell if it was one or two people. Only one person walked in. I felt my mind hit itself at messing up as I sat up, ignoring the dull ache from my chest.

"Ah, Mr. Uzumaki, I'm glad to see that you're awake. So sorry about knocking you out, it's vital to keeping our whereabouts secret to the ninja community," said the man. I took in his appearance. His beard was nearly hitting the floor, it was so long. His nose was crooked, most likely broken at one point. His eyes are what I noticed first. There was a small twinkle in them. 'Pretty good, but not good enough.'

I could tell that it was all to make people think this man was a very happy fellow. I knew it was all a facade. Beyond that twinkle was hurt. 'Still, he's good enough to hide the rest of the less noticeable emotions. Even I can't read them.'

"Oh, how rude of me. I am Albus Dumbledore, the man who hired you and the Headmaster of Hogwarts." I understood how he was so good at hiding all of his emotions now.

"It's good to finally meet you, Dumbledore-sama." I bowed my head the best I could whilst in my current state of sitting. Dumbledore smiled and shook his head, saying, "There's no need to call me Dumbledore-sama. Please, Dumbledore will work just fine."

His kindness was pushing itself into me, converting my lacking of emotions. A smile found it's way onto my face. "I can do that, as long as it's not to informal."

Chuckling, Dumbledore said, "That is one of the many reasons I love the shinobi community so much, even if I haven't been there in such a long time. You are all quite formal and kind."

I nodded, not really knowing what else to say. Dumbledore started, as if he remembered something. "I almost forgot! The drink in your hands is to help you understand English. It sends English into your language center and holds it there. You won't speak perfect English until you listen to it more, but you'll be able to have a conversation. Both Madam Pomfery and I have been speaking Japanese for your benefit."

I looked at the cup in my hand and swallowed. I could still taste the little drop I had earlier. Putting the cup to my lips, I drank as much of it as I could. I forced my body not to spit it back out as I swallowed. I suddenly had a cold chill that left a small headache in my head. I blinked a few times.

"Can you understand me now?"

My mind quickly translated that to Japanese. I nodded and said, "Yes."

My voice no longer sounded like my voice. It was a strange language to speak and there was a very heavy accent on my voice. Dumbledore's smile only grew. "I'm glad it worked. I was working with a friend to develop this potion. It was much more difficult than I first imagined it would be."

"Anyway, I will go talk to Madam Pomfery to see if you can leave. I think it would be much nicer to get used to your new living quarters than staying in the Hospital Wing." Dumbledore walked over to Madam Pomfery's door, knocked lightly, and entered. I laid back down and put the cup on the stand next to me.

My mind was whirring. So much had happened in what felt like only a few minutes. Being knocked out by some weird light and then waking up in a strange place. Then, drinking a random drink and being able to understand and speak English. My headache grew slightly.

A few minutes passed before Dumbledore came out of the office. He looked at me, eyes twinkling. "Though she doesn't want you to leave, I have convinced her to let you leave. All of your belongings are on that chair."

I got up off the bed, the pain already less than before. I went over to the chair and put everything back on me. After putting my pack on, I followed Dumbledore out of the Hospital Wing into the castle.

* * *

><p>Another body fell. This one, I recognized incredibly well. anyone would be able to recognize her long blonde hair. I forced my legs not to stop. I had to get there in time.<p>

A sharp pain exploded in my thigh. I reached down to feel a kunai protruding from it. I ripped it out and started running again. Nothing would be able to stop me from getting there. I couldn't let anything stop me.

A scream pierced the air, causing me to stop for only a moment. I then took off, faster than before. I knew who that voice belonged to.

Laughter then entered the air, making its way to my ears. Then, words followed, saying, "Too bad that man you talked about isn't here now! I would've loved to see the look on his face as I killed you. Oh well. Goodbye, Hyuuga."

I rounded the corner of the building to see a sword slash down, black hair flying as the body fell to the ground. My heart stopped.

A sharp intake of breath and I was awake. I hadn't had a dream about the others in a long time. My head fell into my hands and I felt tears threatening to come. I pushed them back, like I always do. Shaking my head to put some sense into it, I looked around, forgetting where I was momentarily.

A loud bark reminded me that there was a lovely three-headed dog above me. I couldn't believe that they actually had a three-headed dog.

My room was very well lit and already had a homey feeling to it. I looked out the one window in the room to see the sunrise only just appearing above the treeline. I was surprised that I woke up so early, but it was slightly understandable. It was finally September 1, the day the students were going to come.

Dumbledore entrusted me to protecting a stone that had great properties. I wondered why they brought it to Hogwarts when they had it at another, more secure location, but I didn't ask why. Dumbledore also asked me to keep an eye on the students. He only told me that Harry Potter was the reason the school had some extra defenses up. Other than that, he left it alone, so I did too.

The day went by rather quickly. I got everything all set up, putting 'Fluffy', as the three-headed dog was so wondrously named, to sleep. I left the third floor and went down to the kitchens. Dinner was waiting for me. As was a chaotic first month.

* * *

><p>AN:<p>

Sorry for cutting off so horribly. Even more sorry for not updating in forever. Lots of crap has been going on and school is currently killing me. Yay for four day weekend! I'll write as much as I possibly can this weekend so I can get it up sooner. I have to finish Hidan's Eyes too. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke to the sound of scuffling. I looked towards the door, where the noise was coming from, while involuntarily grabbing my kunai that was always on me.

My door started to creak open slowly, which caused my arm to throw the kunai to the door. It hit the door, going in deep enough that whoever it was would be unable to pull it out easily. "Who's there?"

"It is only I, a house-elf, who needs to clean this room!" a squeaky voice said. I looked closer to the ground and saw the house-elf, wide-eyed and scared. I quickly smiled.

"Right, sorry about that. It was a reflex." The house-elf nodded quickly and started cleaning as fast as possible. I looked out the window to see darkness. Apparently, it was still night time. I wasn't terribly surprised, considering my sleeping patterns.

"I will be leaving now, sir!" With that, the house-elf scurried out of the room. I put a note in the back of my mind to make sure I apologized later.

I looked down to the watch Dumbledore gave me and saw that it was 5:10. I groaned, but got up anyway. Most everyone would be up at six anyway, so there was no reason to attempt to get some more sleep when it's not going to happen.

Slowly, Naruto gathered his clothes and armor and went into the bathroom. Shutting the door behind him, Naruto took off his shirt and threw it to the floor. The mirror reflected the long scar across his abdomen. He reached and grabbed his tank top and put it on, covering the scar.

Naruto then proceeded to dress himself completely. It had already been a week of guard duty and Naruto was drained. He had seen a couple of students get fairly close to the third floor, but others had reminded them that they couldn't be there. For the most part, it had been quiet, as far as students go. Fluffy, as Hagrid so perfectly called him, was another story.

Hagrid had come by once on the second day of school, saying hello to Fluffy. I went upstairs and asked him for his name and what he was doing there.

After explaining he was the gamekeeper and that Fluffy was once his pet, I lowered the kunai that was threatening his neck. We talked for a little while, mostly Hagrid talking about his various (and dangerous) pets. It was a nice conversation.

"That's enough 'bout me. What's yer story, kid?" Hagrid said. By this time, I had gotten used to his half words and could understand him much better. Unfortunately, I had wished I couldn't understand what he had said.

"I was asked by Dumbledore to help protect this stone, that's all, " I said, hoping he wouldn't try and take it farther. Who wouldn't question more?

"I know that. Dumbledore told us 'bout it. What's yer home like? Are there lotsa animals?" he asked. I calmed down, glad I didn't have to tell him too much about Konoha.

The rest of that day had gone nice, after talking to Hagrid for so long. I hadn't talked to many real people since I had gotten to Hogwarts.

I shook my head, getting the memories out of it. I had to get down to the kitchens by six for my breakfast. I quickly pulled my jacket on, covering my tank top. Then, I went out of his room, sealed the door, and went to the wall directly across from my room.

I placed my hands on the wall and pushed a small amount of chakra through them. The bricks disappeared and I was left with a well lit passageway straight to the kitchens.

I was slightly surprised that no one knew about this passage except Dumbledore. He hadn't even told Filch, who I have been thankful to avoid thus far, about it. What was even more surprising is that one of the house elves found it. Viley was the founder of the passage.

She was a rather nice house elf who had accidentally tripped, fallen against the wall, let out a bit of magic, and opened the passage. She had been scared that Dumbledore would be mad, but he was laughing when he heard. He only said something about the castle always coming up with something new.

I was glad the passage existed so I didn't have to leave through Fluffy's room and put it to sleep everyday three times a day. That would be way too much work on my part otherwise.

Upon walking into the kitchen, the house elves greeted me like a king. They brought me over to my seat and Viley put my plate in front of me, saying, "Here you go, Naruto, sir! We all helped put this one together!"

A smirk showed up on my face for a moment. All the house elves knew I liked ramen, so they tried to make it as much as possible, including this time. The ramen was still steaming, showing me the house elves had only just cooked it.

"Thanks. You really out do yourselves sometimes. I know how hard this is to make," I said before slurping down the ramen. I had to admit, it was pretty good, but it wasn't at the level of Ichiraku's yet.

While I was eating, Viley came over with a letter. She handed it to me with a small frown on her face.

"Sir, this was from Master Dumbledore. Master Dumbledore said he received it early this morning. He said you are not allowed to open it in the kitchen." I smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Viley."

After another minute, I asked, "Was there something else, Viley?"

She seemed to bite her lip before asking, "The house-elf that went into your room earlier said he overheard you crying out in agony. I was just wondering if you had a bad dream or something."

I could almost feel all of the color leave my face. Viley seemed to get a little concerned at the lacking of color, which was when I decided to finish my ramen, promptly avoiding the question.

Letting out a sigh of satisfaction, I got up, letter in hand, and said, "Well, I better go read this letter! Long day ahead of me."

I left, a smile on my face until the wall closed behind my. I gripped the wall as last nights dream flooded back into my mind. It had jumped from one death to the next like an endless barrage of bullets.

By the time the dream had stopped replaying in my head, I recognized that I was on the floor. I was panting and shaky. I sat there for a few more moments, willing the nausea to go away.

Slowly, I got up and made my way back to my room. My head was still spinning, so I laid down on my bed. A couple of minutes passed and I finally opened my letter.

_To Naruto,  
><em>

_Naruto, I have finally figured out how to send a letter to Hogwarts. Dumbledore sent a owl over, which had instructions on it to keep the owl to send __letters through it._

_I only have a small update. Gaara-sama came yesterday looking for you. He seemed upset to know that you were gone. He asked me to tell you that he will gladly talk to you if you need it. He knows that you are still going through some hard times, especially through nightmares. The day the war ended and you were in the hospital, he was by your bed all night. He really cares about you. Like I said before, he wants you to talk to him if-_

I crumpled the letter up and threw it on the ground. I had absolutely no desire to talk about any of it. It was for me to deal with. My head had stopped spinning, but a head ache had taken it's place rather violently. This was definitely not how he had hoped to start his day.

* * *

><p>I had been keeping myself busy laying in bed. Nobody went anywhere near the third floor corridor on the right-hand side. I was starting to get sick of sitting there doing nothing everyday, but it was my job.<p>

Then, one night, someone did come. I jumped out of bed and grabbed a kunai. Silently, I went up the ladder, which was connected to the back of Fluffy's room.

I heard the voices creep into the large room. Fluffy seemed to be slowly waking up.

"This is it!" One voice moaned, "We're done for! This is the end!"

A female voice took the others place, saying, "Oh, move over. _Alohomora!_"

The door was pushed open and shut quickly. I sensed that they were four students, first or second year. One of them seemed to have a dark force on them, focused on their soul. I was slightly disturbed that someone so young could have something like this on their soul.

A few other voices were out in the hall, sounding slightly angry. The voices stopped and I heard one of the students say, "He thinks this door is locked. I think we'll be okay - get _off_ Neville!"

I heard the same voice saw what before I knew exactly what they were talking about. Fluffy was finally fully awake.

Thinking fast, I ran over to the harp and started playing random notes. I knew they were extremely off, but I'd never played the harp before. Or any instrument, for that matter.

Fluffy drifted back off to sleep. I sighed in relief and continued the horrible notes. After playing for a minute, I stopped and looked back to the door.

Three of the students were gone. I sensed that one of them was left, who was standing right next to the door. I decided to go around Fluffy and make sure they weren't injured. The only way to do that would be to attach to the left wall, where there was a space just big enough to get through. Otherwise, Fluffy took up the whole room.

As I went on the wall, the person slowly backed out of the room. That gave me the assumption that they were fine, but it was part of my job.

I got to the other side of the room, kunai out of sight. A girl with large, bushy hair was standing next to the door, face white. By the time she noticed me, I had managed to get to the ground.

"W-who are you?" she asked, voice shaking. I answered with, "One of the guards to keep the castle safe. This is one of the rooms I've been told to keep an extra eye on."

Her mind seemed to be sucking the information in like a sponge. The next question she asked surprised me.

"Where does that trap door lead to?" I blinked a few times before saying, "It leads outside the castle. It's an escape passage. People have been breaking in for years. Dumbledore finally decided to do something about it and put this dog here."

She nodded before asking, "I have one more question. Where are you from? You have a fairly heavy accent, but I can't figure out from where."

"Japan."

"Why did Dumbledore hire someone from Japan?"

"You only said one more question. Now, you can't tell anyone I'm here. I mean absolutely no one. My guarding of this place is meant to be a secret." The girl's eyebrows furrowed slightly before she nodded and turned around. She was still a little shaky, but she managed to leave.

Letting out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, I shut the door, locked it, and went back to my room. I threw off my armor and fell onto my bed.

My mind was whirring with the nights events. Just the fact that some students finally came over was surprising enough, especially this early in the year. Dumbledore had been predicting that some of them were going to come, but he had thought it would be a month or two into the year.

I let out a groan at the thought of needing to report all of this to Dumbledore. I wasn't sure if I should've talked to the girl, but I had to make sure she was alright while inadvertently answering a few questions.

I really didn't think she would pick up that there was a trap door, so that question caught me off guard. I was glad I had gotten so good at lying.

I felt my eyes droop as my lack of sleep caught up with me. Before I knew it, sun was shining into my room and onto my face. I stared at it, thinking I was back in my own bed with the sun shining on my face.

I soon realized I wasn't and jumped out of bed. It was Friday, which meant there was still one more day of "hard" work.

Quickly, I took a shower and changed. I made my way to the kitchens when I realized it was around 8:30.

The house elves were glad that I was alright and soon gave me today's breakfast of eggs and toast. It was delicious, as usual. Viley came over with a big grin on her face. I caught her look back at another house elf, who smiled back.

"What's with the smile? Do you like him?" I asked, as a small blush adorned her face. She turned away, saying, "Maybe."

"That's all I get? Maybe? Come on, I know you do. You had that look on your face of adoration. You obviously like him," I teased. Viley smiled a little more before frown overtook her face.

"Even if I do like him, it could never work. Us house elves are only here at Hogwarts to work, not make families," she said, her face drooping even more.

I felt bad for the house elves. They were only bought to Hogwarts to work, nothing more. I had only ever seen the house elves work hard. I've never seen love blossom in them. It was kinda cute, in a weird way.

"I'll talk to Dumbledore about it later. I have to meet him anyway, so I could bring it up," I offered. Viley's eyes grew big and she shook her head violently. "Oh, no, you couldn't! If Master Dumbledore were to find out, he would fire us for sure! Then, we wouldn't have anywhere safe to be!"

"Are you sure?" I asked, "Dumbledore never seemed to be that kind of person before."

"It would be against the law of us house elves! We are only here to work. Love and families is not permitted in the workplace!" Viley said. I threw my hands up in defeat. "Alright, I won't say anything."

Viley bowed and said, "Thank you, Mr. Naruto."

I smiled at the formality, but just continued eating. I left soon after, stomach full of yummy food.

When I got back to my room, I focused on writing a letter to give to a house elf for Dumbledore. I had to keep it discreet, for security reasons. I got out a piece of parchment and a quill that Dumbledore had given me in the beginning of the year for this purpose. I started out, writing:

_Dumbledore,_

_I had a few lovely visitors last night. My dog was slightly jumpy, but fell asleep soon afterwards. One of those visitors stayed for a while. She is a very smart girl. I'm guessing you sent her? She was in the red uniform, so I'm guessing you did. I think she'll make a great cook for the shop.  
><em>

_I also wanted to talk to you regarding two of the cooks. I'll tell you more details later, but I think they may like each other. I was wondering what I should be doing with them, for the most part._

_I don't think I'll ever be able to thank you enough for helping me start out this restaurant of mine. It's going amazing, and you're to thank. Thank you again! _

_Your friend,_

_Naruko_

I wasn't too fond of acting like a girl, but it seemed to be what Dumbledore wanted. I just hoped it wasn't his idea of some sick joke, because it definitely wasn't all that funny.

I gave the letter to one of the house elves named Brady. He gladly took it to Dumbledore, saying he had to go there anyway. I was so happy that the house elves were kind and giving. It was part of there nature, yes, but from some of the books I had been reading, there were some very nasty ones out there.

Every week, I took out a few books from the library under the name Naruko Pendulum. I was allowed all hours access to the library, thanks to Dumbledore.

Most of the time, the books were on magical creatures. It was crazy what some of the animals were. I had never dreamed that unicorns were real, for one.

The day went by in a bit of a flash. I spent most of my day reading a book devoted entirely to Thestrals. It was a hard book to find, but they had been mentioned in a previous book. My curiosity took hold of me completely and I had to find more information.

It was time for dinner before I knew it. I made my way to the kitchen, where I was greeted with a three course meal. My appetite was growing every day I had the astonishing food.

"Mr. Naruto, sir, Dumbledore would like to see you in his office after your dinner," said Brady, who was carrying a tray of dishes to the back. I nodded and scarfed my food down.

Bidding farewell to the elves, I left for Dumbledore's office. The halls were completely deserted, which was nice. It meant I didn't have to sneak around. That took too much energy.

"Sherbert Lemon."

The gargoyle moved, allowing me to go up. I got off on the top and walked up to the door. I paused for a moment, though I wasn't sure why. I looked back to the door and knocked. A soft, "Come in," came from inside.

I opened the door and felt myself fall to the floor.

* * *

><p>I know, that was a horrible ending and I have taken forever to update. Life got in the way and I'm really sorry! Merry late Christmas!<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

I opened my eyes, not quite knowing what to expect. I definitely did not expect to see a blood red sky, smoke billowing from unknown directions. I slowly sat up, seeing everything go in slow motion around me. My ears were ringing and my body ached all over. I lifted my hand to my head, feeling something wet and sticky. I gradually stood up, only to duck again as a shuriken flew over my head.

I gazed around, seeing a war torn village. Blinking a few times, things seemed to speed up slightly. I knew exactly where I was. I was in the war, just like my nightmares, only this time, it felt as though I was really there again. I didn't feel disconnected like normal.

"Duck!"

I ducked, just like the person yelled me to. A giant dog blocked my view of the sky. It's once white fur had turned mud brown and red. There was a man riding the dog, who gave me a toothy smile before running full speed towards the battlefield. A high pitched whine informed me of their demise.

'Why? Why am I reliving this again?'

"Because I forced you to."

I whipped my head around to see someone I hadn't expected: Dumbledore. He looked somber, a stark contrast to his normal happy facade. I could tell his true feelings were starting to leak through, most likely because of the scene around him.

"Why? Why are you making this happen? I've seen it too many times already," I looked away, controlling my emotions. I sensed Dumbledore begin to walk towards me.

"I needed to know the full story. I took your memories and put them in a device called a pensieve. We are viewing them through the pensieve. Unfortunately, you hit your head rather hard when you fell, but I didn't have time to heal it yet. I'll fix it when we're done," Dumbledore added. I could hardly believe this was happening. As I stood there, I saw myself stand up in front of me and run to where Kiba had just gone. He hadn't been smiling at me, he had been smiling at the me in my memory.

Dumbledore nodded solemnly to where I had just gone. Sighing, I followed myself into the heat of battle.

Screams erupted around us, as though they were being blocked before. Countless shinobi fell all around me, kunai sticking out of their bodies. A large burst of fire erupted to the left, which carried a familiar voice with it. My heart fell. I had forgotten _he_ was there. But, how could I have forgotten when he killed so many.

"No! Please, she's my daughter! Kill me instead!" I turned to see two blondes, the male in front of the female, who was crying and badly injured.

"Father, leave me, save yourself!" the girl choked out. Their eyes widened at the same time. They both saw the man in front of them faster than the blink of an eye. His black hair was indistinguishable. He pulled out his sword and slashed forward. Ino screamed.

My memory self jumped forward, pushing _him_ to the ground and punching him as hard as I could. He let me do it, no emotion coming to his face.

"Stop! Stop attacking us! This used to be your home!" _He _ignored what my memory said, staring into my memories eyes. I looked away from the scene, not wishing to watch any longer. I felt myself being pulled backwards and up. I shut my eyes, not knowing quite what to expect. When I opened them, I saw Dumbledore's long beard and felt his hand on my forehead, where a slight throbbing was coming from.

Suddenly, the throbbing was ebbing away. I heard a bit of whispering coming from Dumbledore as the pain receded. He moved backwards and helped me onto my feet.

Smiling, he said, "Ah, that's better. Come, sit. We have a few things we need to discuss. There are licorice snaps on my desk, if you so desire. They are a wee bit sharp, so be careful."

I looked around his office, admiring the various instruments that adorned it. My eyes traveled to the walls, where there were many portraits. Many of them were asleep, but a few did seem to be highly interested in what was going on, even if they pretended to be asleep.

Dumbledore sat behind his desk and directed me to the comfy armchair in front of it. I walked over and sat down, feeling my tense muscles rest.

We sat in silence, waiting for one of us to begin. I was slowly getting more anger gathered up inside me. I was appalled that Dumbledore put me through that. I didn't care if he wanted the whole story. I didn't want to give it. Dumbledore seemed to sense my anger and said, "Naruto, please forgive me. Tsunade only gave me that a war took place, which was why she sent you, hoping you would stop punishing yourself. I needed to know why you punished yourself."

"And you couldn't just ask me?" I yelled. Even I was surprised at myself, noticing that I was standing. Dumbledore looked at me, smiled, and said, "Please sit."

I sat down, as though that was an order I couldn't refuse. Dumbledore slowly began explaining himself.

"You are not the only one who believes he has caused something terrible to happen, nor will you be the last. The first thing you need to do is realize you didn't kill them. It wasn't you, it was someone else," Dumbledore began, but I interrupted.

"You weren't there! You don't know that it was definitely someone else! I could've killed someone, causing a whole ton of people to come after my village for revenge!"

"But that's not what happened. Sasuke is his name, correct?"

My heart stopped. "H-how...?"

"Tsunade. She believed I should know at least that much. She told me everything except why you blame yourself, since she doesn't know either. He came after the village heads, correct? But that wasn't quite enough for him, so he also attacked the whole village, wanting them all dead. You didn't force him or give him any reason to do that, he couldn't see past the horrible thing called revenge," Dumbledore said.

I knew every word he said was true. Surprisingly, he wasn't done yet.

"Naruto, I see myself in you. It's not too late for you to realize. It's terrible and seems impossible, but it's not. The only thing wrong you did was blame yourself. Please, for the sake of all those who died, don't blame yourself. If they were true friends, or lovers, then you mustn't blame yourself. I don't believe they would appreciate that very much."

Some of the burden seemed to ebb away, without me doing a thing. Dumbledore smiled, the twinkle back in his eyes. With a clap of his hands, he asked, "Wasn't there something you wanted to talk about from your letter?"

I jumped, almost as though I had been jump started, and began at once, telling Dumbledore about the four that came to Fluffy's room and about Hermione's questions. Dumbledore chuckled as I told the story. I was slightly surprised at the laughter, but I continued until the end.

"Ah, I believed someone would try before long. I know I said they probably wouldn't until later in the year, but why wouldn't they? Unless, of course, they didn't do it on purpose. You said there were other voices out in the corridor?" I nodded and said, "There were two."

"That may explain it. I am going on a whim and saying one of them was Filch, our caretaker. He may have found them out of bed, for whatever reason. Now I'm curious as to why they were out of bed." Dumbledore chuckled yet again. I shifted in my seat, not really knowing what else to talk about.

"Well, I'm suspected you'll be wanting to get back to your room for some well deserved slumber. Thank you, Naruto. And don't forget what I told you."

I nodded, bowed, and left. I had a bit to think about on my walk back. Dumbledore had said he saw himself in me. That told me he most likely blames himself for something, but hasn't stopped. I felt he was being slightly hypocritical, but I know how hard it can be firsthand.

Maybe it was Tsunade who told him to do that to me, to try and make me come back anew. I felt myself wanting it more and more. This place almost seemed to make me want to go back to the way I was, happy and carefree. The village was one of the biggest reasons I was able to deal with these things the way I did. They had hurt me enough as a child.

I focused on my walking again, after having completely zoned out into my thoughts to see the same bushy haired girl in front of me. I instantly hid, glad that she hadn't seen me yet. She was walking on her own, looking slightly unhappy. I was tempted to go down and see if she was alright, but I withheld myself. It was bad enough that she had seen me once.

"Hey, Hermione! Do you know what the properties of a bezoar is? I need to finish Professor Snape's essay for Monday," a girl with blonde hair and with yellow on her robes. Naruto vaguely remembered that yellow meant the house Hufflepuff. Hermione started listing off the properties in a heartbeat, almost seeming excited to do so. Naruto was starting to wonder if she would ever stop when she did. The blonde girl yelled her thanks as she walked away. Hermione smiled and waved back.

Her face fell as the other girl turned the corner. In fact, she looked more miserable than ever. Before Naruto could think about jumping down there, she took off in the other direction, small sobs coming from her.

Naruto made the rest of his journey without incident. He changed out of his clothes and into a blue tank top and pale grey sweat pants. Letting himself fall on the bed, he started reading the book, 'Quidditch Through the Ages'. He had been reading tid bits of it for a while, but didn't feel it was very interesting. The most interesting parts in it were that it was a sport played on brooms.

Naruto had, in fact, been meaning to sneak out in the night and try flying on a broom. That thought was dashed when those four came in the middle of the night. It would not have been good if he was outside and they were being eaten by a three headed dog.

Soon, he fell asleep, book still in hands.

* * *

><p>It was October thirty-first before Naruto knew it. He had always thought Halloween was fun, especially being able to dress up as someone else for a night.<p>

Naruto went into the kitchens, like every other morning during his stay there. When he walked in, he hardly recognized the place. It was filled with decorations of all colors, the dominant two being orange and black. This brought a huge grin to his face.

"Mr. Naruto, sir! We have decorated for Halloween! Do you like it?" Viley came bounding, carrying a tray of food. I grinned and nodded my head vigorously. "I absolutely love it, Viley. Especially the colors. Orange is definitely my favorite color. I think it might be why I like Halloween so much."

Viley motioned for me to sit, and she put the tray in front of me. My mouth watered at the sight of the delectable foods. Devouring them was an easy feat.

"Do they decorate the whole castle?" Viley shook her head and answered with, "No, only the Great Hall for the feast later."

"Wish I could go see it. Might be a cool thing to see," I said, sighing and the thought. I knew it could never happen, but it would be nice. Viley's smile grew. "Maybe you could do one of your cool tricks and change into something to see it!"

I laughed heartily and said, "Viley, I can't just change into any object I want. I can only transform into other humans. If I show up as a new student for one night, people would be very confused. If I showed up as a real kid, I don't know who their friends are, so I would probably do something really stupid. I can only dream about it."

Viley's ears drooped, but she still smiled. I thanked her and the rest of the house elves before leaving to my room. I was stopped by one of the elves so they could give me a letter, this time from Dumbledore.

I opened the letter on the way back to my room, which said:

_Naruko,_

_I would love to let you know you have the rest of the day off! Brian let me know that you don't need to go into work. I would love to invite you to our dinner, but I'm not sure you'd be able to. As long as I clarify that you are indeed one of my honored guests, they should surely allow you to come. Of course, it's all up to you, so send a letter back as soon as possible. Otherwise, you'll miss out on some great decorations and food._

_When we met last, you hadn't told me about_ _those two cooks who like each other. I really would love to know about that. I believe it's quite cute, when two people fall in love at work. _

_Please contact me as soon as possible regarding tonight._

I couldn't contain the smile that forced it's way to my face. I really wanted to see the Great Hall all decorated. I merely wondered how this was going to work.

I grabbed some parchment and scrawled a quick message stating I did indeed wish to go to the dinner. I gave it back to Viley, who gave it to the house elf she liked.

I learned his name was Zany. He seemed to have a slight rebellious side to him, which drew me towards him. He had told me he liked Viley too, but hadn't acted on it. I informed him that I mentioned it to Dumbledore, but hadn't gotten around to really talking to him about it. I told Zany not to give up hope and wait until I got more details.

The house elves had taken to my stories of all the creatures back home. I even told them some stories about the Akatsuki, mostly telling them about how strange some of them were. I still think the house elves believed they were a new species of animal.

The day passed rather fast. A return letter came, only telling me to wait outside Fluffy's door at quarter to five. Quarter to five came and I went to the designated area. After only waiting a few moments, I saw Zany come running along with a silvery object in his hands.

"Mr. Naruto, sir, Zany has the item Master Dumbledore told him to bring!" He handed me the object, which had a note on top of it. It had only a few words on it.

_"This cloak will shield you. Put it on and come to the Great Hall."_

I blinked in disbelief that this cloak would shield me from hundreds of staring eyes. Shrugging, I unfolded it and put it on myself. I looked down, not expecting much and gasped. My whole body had disappeared.

"It must be an Invisibility cloak! Zany has not seen one before!" The elf was staring in admiration at the cloak. I knew exactly what to do. Covering my whole body, I went to the Great Hall, anticipating the best night of my life.

* * *

><p>Being the one of the first people in the Great Hall has many perks, the largest being able to get to Dumbledore without trouble. He motioned me to sit on the end of the table, next to Hagrid. All the teachers knew about me, so they acted as though absolutely nothing was wrong.<p>

I was on cloud nine. The hall had been decorated with hundreds of floating pumpkins, carved into some terrifying faces. Bats flew all over the place. There was more food than I would ever be able to eat.

The students filed in, talking loudly. Everyone was enjoying themselves. I looked all over the place for the girl I had talked to, but couldn't find her. Then again, there were so many people, I wasn't too surprised.

The plates that were once empty suddenly filled with food, surprising me. My eyes widened more when I saw the food that was on them. Mouth watering, I dove for the food in front of me, piling it onto my plate. I made sure to stop the cloak from moving as I did so. I was only able to eat a few mouthfuls before the Great Hall door slammed open. A man with a turban came running in, face ashen.

He ran up to the front table, and said, "Troll - in the dungeons - thought you ought to know." At that, he fainted, falling with a great thud. There was a moment of silence before all chaos broke out.

I ignored Dumbledore as he silenced the hall by running out a break neck speed. I knew exactly where I needed to go. If someone purposefully let that troll in, then they did it to try to get the stone.

My legs didn't stop working until I made it to Fluffy's room. I ran around Fluffy and waited behind him, pulling out a kunai. A few moments later, the door opened and shut quickly. I slowly peered over Fluffy and saw greasy black hair with black robes. I was scared it was a student at first, but when they turned around, I knew it wasn't.

It was the potions master, Severus Snape. He was leaning up against the door, listening very closely. I was about to sneak behind him and knock him out, but Fluffy beat me to the punch. One of the heads leaned down and grabbed Snape by the leg. A scream pierced the air. I was almost tempted to let Fluffy do what he wanted, but I stopped him.

A quick tune on the flute I had made Fluffy drop Snape right into my arms. I set him down and pointed my kunai at him.

"What are you doing here?" venom laced my words. Snape was clutching his leg, probably wondering if Fluffy's saliva was poisonous. He then looked up at me and said," Stopping a mad man. Don't tell anyone I was here."

He pulled out his wand and said a few words while pointing it at his leg. His leg didn't heal very much, but enough that Snape could stand up and leave. I couldn't believe that I actually let him go.

Sighing heavily, I waited another hour just in case anyone came. When no one did, I went back to my room and took a long shower. Then, I laid in bed and gazed at the ceiling. Never, in a hundred years, did I think I would be doing such an insane mission.

* * *

><p><em>I fee<em>_l like I've said this every chapter so far, but I'm sorry for the long wait. Play practice at school is completely ridiculous. I have a week off next week, so I'm hoping to update then. Thanks for all the reviews and favorites!_


	5. Chapter 5

I mulled Snape's words over and over in my head. It was all way too confusing. Who was this mad man he spoke of? What did he have to do with the stone I was meant to protect? No one else had come into Fluffy's room that night, so either Snape was lying to me or the one he was talking about was intelligent enough to stay away.

Dumbledore had seemed much more distant recently. The stress he was being forced under from the information he did know was taking its toll, whether others saw it or not. I could see it just by looking in his eyes, the usual sparkle dulled.

Harry Potter and his friends had been meddling even more with every waking day. I spotted them in the library not long after hearing about Harry nearly being jerked off his broom. I was doing my daily walk around the castle and grounds when I saw them whispering in a corner, books piled around them. Not wanting to cause any suspicion, even in my transformed form, I grabbed a book and sat near them. They may think they are good at whispering, but they definitely needed work.

"Have you found anything?"

"This is the fifth time you've asked me in the past two minutes! No, I haven't found anything yet!"

"God, this is terrible! Are you sure Hagrid said the right name? He could've done it to get us off the chase!"

"Ron, this is Hagrid we're talking about! He doesn't say something like that to get us off the trail! He isn't sm- nevermind."

"Hermione, were you about to say Hagrid isn't smart enough?"

"Guys, come on, we have to keep looking for Nicolas Flamel. We don't have time to argue!"

I heard all I needed to hear. Putting the book back where I found it, I took one glance back to see Harry go near the restricted section and then get batted away by Madam Pince. Dumbledore needed to know about this.

* * *

><p>I was standing outside the door to Dumbledore's office, but had yet to go in. Should I really be bothering him with this when he had much more important things on his plate?<p>

I stepped forward and knocked three times. A soft, "Come in," sounded from inside. I cautiously entered this time, hoping to not get knocked out for my memories again. The first time was not too pleasant.

"Ah, Mr. Uzumaki, please, come in," Dumbledore said, a wide smile on his face.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but there is some information I believe may benefit you to know," He nodded for me to go on. "Harry Potter and his two friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are looking for information on Nicolas Flamel. They seem to believe he is intertwined somehow on what has been going on. They may even believe that he has something to do with why there is a three-headed dog in Hogwarts."

A chuckle came from Dumbledore. My eyebrows rose in confusion. "Ah, to be young and adventurous. I believe Harry has inherited something else from his father, along with his looks."

"You don't think this might be something worth stopping?" I asked, even more confused. If they had been doing this in Konoha, Tsunade-sama would have their heads on sticks.

"You see, even when they find out what's in the dungeon, there is nothing they can do that would cause any harm. No one is trying to take the stone and I have many measures in place to keep the stone safe," he said, "I also have many people who will protect this castle if it is threatened by outside forces."

I was still incredibly skeptical about the whole thing. Something bad was coming, I could feel it. Being in a war really does something to a person. They may be more paranoid, or they may actually get a sense of when something bad would really happen.

"Sir, I really believe it would be beneficial to stop them. I don't think we are as protected as you seem to think. I have a feeling that something is going to happen that we don't want," I said, urging Dumbledore to listen.

"I understand your concern, Mr. Uzumaki, but I assure you, we are perfectly safe."

I wanted to believe him, but I just couldn't. Suddenly, I remembered one of the big reasons I wanted to meet with Dumbledore.

"Sir, I still haven't told you about the house elves. It keeps slipping my mind, with everything else going on," Dumbledore chuckled as I rehashed all the details of Viley's and Zany's love.

"To be young and in love. It is always quite divine."

Eyebrows furrowed, I asked, "Is there any way they can be together? I know Viley said they aren't allowed to because they are working here and it would be inappropriate."

"Naruto, I would love them to be together, if they are truly in love. If they will accept it, I can give them vacation days so they can have some time to themselves, but it will be hard convincing them of that," Dumbledore explained. My confusion led me to ask, "Why wouldn't they want any time outside of work? I read that they enjoy work, but I didn't realize they were that committed."

A chuckle. "House elves more than enjoy work, it is engrained that they work for their masters whenever it is needed. I'm sure there are a few exceptions, but for the most part, they work nearly non-stop."

I no longer tried to understand why they did what they did, but instead, I bowed and left the office. Maybe it was better that they were such workaholics. Maybe they just needed someone to tell them not to work so hard.

When I arrived in the kitchen for dinner, I was greeted by a luxurious meal, as was normal. This time, it seemed much bigger and better though.

"What's the special occasion?"

Viley popped up and said, "It's the final dinner before break, Mr. Naruto! Most students will be gone tomorrow!"

"That's right, I forgot. Thanks again, you guys! You work very hard and it really pays off!" The little elves started bowing and saying there was no need to thank them and that it was just their job. I only smiled and dug into the meal.

After the meal, I called Viley over, as the rest started washing the dishes. Her large, blue eyes stared up at me, confusion mixed in with hope showing in her expression. She knew why I called her over.

"Dumbledore said he doesn't mind if you two get together. He's even willing to give you some time away from Hogwarts so you can start a family," I said, trying to make it sound amazing. The look of shock on her face was not what I was expecting.

"Time off? No, I could never do that! Work means work! Time off is not something a house-elf is permitted to! But, if Mr. Dumbledore says it's alright for us to be together, then that is good enough! Time off is bad!" Viley said defiantly. She seemed very determined not to take time off.

"Alright. I was only passing the message along. If you don't want time off, then that is your decision. I'm sure Dumbledore won't mind having very devoted house-elves, even if he does think you work too hard," I said. I really didn't want to go on that route, but I felt that I had to add that. I wanted Viley and Zany to have a family, if that's what they desired. Staying at Hogwarts was not going to give them a family.

"Thank you for the offer, Mr. Naruto, but we work only as hard as we need to," she said. I nodded and smiled, saying, "I'll tell Dumbledore what you said when I see him again. Now, go tell Zany the good news!"

A smile erupted on her face before she turned and went back to the kitchen. Maybe house elves were more complicated than I first thought they were.

* * *

><p>'Hm, interesting. Very interesting,' I thought as I read over the list of students who were staying over Christmas break. Hermione, the one I had talked to, was going home while Harry and Ron were both staying. I could understand why, considering that Harry probably wouldn't want to and Ron most likely felt bad for him. It just meant I would be doing a lot of surveillance over the holiday and be watching their moves.<p>

Knowing that I had my work cut out for me only invigorated me. I was looking forward to my first wizard Christmas, even if it was going to be filled with work.

I started out to my first rounds of the castle and grounds, which started in the dungeons and slowly worked it's way up the castle. With less students in the castle, it made my job a lot easier and more efficient.

"Man, why did Hermione leave us with the dirty work? It's not fair! Why couldn't she have done this before she left? I'm sure she'd be able to get a teacher signature!"

I stopped in my tracks at Ron's words. He sounded quite annoyed. I got a bearing on where I was and saw I was near the library. Peering inside, I saw Ron and Harry walking back from a rather annoyed Madam Pince, who was shooing them away from the restricted section, where she stood. She glared at them for speaking so loudly, but they paid no attention. Their goal was to get out of there as quickly as possible.

I jumped to the ceiling and quickly transformed myself to blend into the stone above me. Harry and Ron walked out, both looking rather defeated.

"I should've guessed she would never let us anywhere near it. The last time I even walked towards it, I was batted away," Harry said. I slowly began to follow them, telling myself to keep a safe distance, as this jutsu was rather temperamental.

"True. I really don't want to say this, but I kind of wish Hermione was here, just so we could get that bloody book!" Ron then proceeded to kick the wall, resulting in more profanities spewing from his mouth. Harry merely chuckled before telling Ron they should go get lunch.

I waited until I knew they were gone before canceling the jutsu and continuing on with my rounds of the castle. When I reached the grounds, I was greeted by white. It had snowed quite a bit the night before, putting the snow up to my knees. I decided to pay Hagrid a visit, since I didn't see him in the great hall.

I knocked on the door for a few minutes before deciding he wasn't in his hut. I peered around it and looked into the forest. I only saw darkness, nothing more. For some reason, I couldn't look away though. There was something in there, I could feel it. It was sinister, causing a violent cold chill down my spine.

A shadow appeared in the forest, seeming to grow larger as it came towards me. Instantly, my instincts as a shinobi kicked in and I got ready for a fight. I could feel that that figure was not friendly.

"Watcha doin', Naruto?"

I yelped and nearly took off Hagrid's arm with a kunai. He jumped in surprise, not expecting me to attack him. I stared at him for a minute before whipping my head back towards the forest. The shadow had disappeared, leaving more questions in my head than I had hoped.

"Hagrid, do you know of anything really dark and sinister living in the forest? Something that leaves chills in your body?" I turned back towards him, hoping he could answer, but knowing he couldn't give me specifics.

His face turned slightly dark before saying, "Naruto, there are things in that place that could kill ya with a bite. There are lots of sinister things in there."

I nodded and decided to stay and talk to him for a while longer, but they were much happier topics. Mainly, they were about different species of animals Hagrid would love to have as pets. Most of them, of course, are pushing the boundaries of being legal. Let me rephrase that. They are way out of the legal limits.

He sent me away before dinner, which was one of several special feasts due to the lacking of students. Dumbledore loved having the holiday feasts and nearly demanded that all the students who were staying intermingle with their other houses.

The few remaining Slytherin ignored that while the rest of the houses gladly sat with another. Cheeriness was flowing through the great hall, causing loud laughter and general happiness.

Even down in the kitchen, there was happiness flowing. These conditions continued on for all of Christmas break. On the eve of Christmas, Dumbledore asked me to keep an extra eye on the grounds. He doubted anything would happen, but he wanted to make sure that Christmas was a wonderful experience for all of the students staying.

Maybe this was to get me to stay out of the castle, but I would gladly spend my time outside, if that's what Dumbledore wanted.

I spent most of my time staring into the forest, almost daring the shadow figure to come back, but it stayed away. That feeling of being chilled to the bone by something other than cold hadn't reared it's head. Maybe the rest of the year would stay nice like this. As soon as I thought that, I knew I never should have.


End file.
